This Cult-Classic Comedy Quietly Hid Sci-Fi Elements in Its 15-Episode Run

Rowan Atkinson is a comic legend, whose 40+ years in the industry has seen him deliver iconic performances on film and on television: the titular, bumbling spy of the Johnny English movies; the clever, scheming and caustic Edmund Blackadder of Blackadder; and, most recently, Trevor Bingley, the well-meaning, socially awkward protagonist of Man vs. Baby, the follow-up to Man vs. Bee. Typically, what you see is what you get with Atkinson. The characters he creates are a winning mix of droll humor and slapstick, whose eccentricities are easily explained away as innate attributes. But one of Atkinson's most famous characters just might have a sci-fi explanation behind his odd behaviors, hidden across the 15 episodes of the series that bears his name.

Mr. Bean Is One of the Most Iconic Comedy Characters

That series is the iconic Mr. Bean, featuring Atkinson as the titular protagonist, almost always seen in a tweed jacket with a skinny red tie. He created the character in the early 1980s, while studying for his master's degree in electrical engineering at the University of Oxford, with the basic premise "a child in a grown man's body." He has a beloved teddy bear, and he rarely speaks. And when he does, Mr. Bean mumbles a few words in a low-pitched voice. It's a key trait that serves a dual purpose. With the minimal translation required for other markets, Mr. Bean is well-suited to international audiences.

Secondly, it allows Atkinson to engage in uninhibited physical, visual comedy as Mr. Bean, which he excels at. He finds odd solutions to common problems, like cutting the legs off of a pair of slacks, turning them into shorts that will fit in his suitcase without folding (and then doubling-down on the joke by picking up a pair of now-identical shorts), or painting the interior of his flat by wrapping everything in it in paper before setting off a paint "bomb" to paint the uncovered walls.

Mr. Bean is also no stranger to creating anarchy, hilariously making the sound of a bus parking and opening its door, prompting a blind man waiting at the stop to step into traffic (don't worry – a woman nearby pulls him back). At the height of its popularity on British TV, it pulled in 18 million viewers, and in 2015, Mr. Bean was the second-most-liked TV show on Facebook at 61.5 million. It also inspired one of the most memorable moments in Friends, who paid homage to – or stole – the idea of the turkey on Joey's head for "The One With All the Thanksgivings" from Mr. Bean, who did the same in "Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean."

Is Mr. Bean Actually an Alien?

But what if we told you there was a reason why Mr. Bean acts the way he acts? And what if we then told you the evidence of it is hiding in plain sight throughout all 15 episodes? You might mumble a Mr. Bean-like guffaw at the thought, but you shouldn't: there's a very real possibility that Mr. Bean is an alien. It would explain his strange behaviors and odd solutions to conventional problems, like the aforementioned interior painting or getting his electric razor stuck in his nose hair.

It would also explain his lack of social protocol, like helping a man suffering a heart attack, but then using the ambulance to jump-start his own car, disabling the ambulance as a result. It's a well-worn trope of aliens in entertainment, from Mork to the bug-alien in Men in Black, as they try to understand and awkwardly fit into life on Earth. And, contrary to popular belief, aliens likely would be unable to master English right off the bat, so his penchant for mumbling also lends credibility to the idea.

From the second episode on, the title sequence sees Mr. Bean falling from the sky in a beam of light, suggesting he is an alien being beamed down to Earth from a nearby UFO, or a previously-abducted man, messed up from years of experiments, being dropped back on Earth. And at the end of episodes three and six, he is also shown being sucked right back up again. Even Atkinson himself acknowledges that Bean "has a slightly alien aspect to him." And he should know.

If you're still unconvinced, turn your attention to the final episode of Mr. Bean: The Animated Series' third season. In the episode, titled "Double Trouble" (as explained in the previously cited Far Out Magazine), a UFO full of Mr. Bean clones comes back to Earth to retrieve their comrade. They're about to return to their home planet, but when Mr. Bean, our Mr. Bean, sees his Earth girlfriend Irma Globb looking sad and lonely, he (finally) feels compassion and decides to stay. So his clone family returns him to the streets of London in a beam of light, the same beam of light that introduces Mr. Bean at the start of each episode. Put that in your padlocked, citron-green 1977 British Leyland Mini 1000 Mark 4 and smoke it.